“Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.” John 10:24

Just a few short verses after the Pharisees ask Jesus this question, Jesus tells them, and us, plainly who these people are. They ARE NOT God’s children.

With this in mind, we can examine the motivation of these men asking Jesus to plainly tell them whether or not He was the Messiah. They are clearly not interested in following Jesus much less worshipping Him. They are attempting to once again catch Jesus saying something they can use against Him.

If Jesus says, “Yes, I am the Messiah,” they plan to tell Pilate or Herod that He is claiming to be a king over Israel. This will rid them of Him, and they can take control of the people again.

If Jesus says, “No, I am not the Messiah,” they plan to tell the people this so they will stop following Him. And again, they can control the people.

They think these are the only two possible answers to their question. Little do they know, Jesus knows they seek to lead the people astray. Therefore, Jesus declares,

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” John 10:27-30

Jesus declares these marvelous words of comfort to warn the unbelieving Jews that no matter what they do, they will never take God’s people away from Jesus!

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39